Lost Coast Brewery

Dear Management, We went for dinner at LCB tonight with great enthusiasm. We had been driving by during the day and it looked like a great place to eat. We initially ordered a round of drinks, including the 10 samples for $10 and a full bottle of wine. It took quite a while to receive our initial drink order. The server said the bartender was overwhelmed and the place was crowded so we gave it the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. I have never had service as bad as I received this evening in your establishment. Our server took our food order and second drink order. She returned after some time to ask again what the drink order was but our food wasn't there yet so it was okay to wait a bit. The food came but the drinks did not. The food was wonderful but we still did not have our drinks. I decided I had to go to the bar to get the drinks as I was almost finished with my meal and tired of waiting. Our drinks were sitting on the bar when we walked up. I spoke with manager on duty. She was very rude and unapologetic. We thought that to be the last of of it, but then when paying the check, they only accounted for half of the cash (we paid part of the check with cash and the rest went on a credit card). I went back up to the manager, she repeated, "Well mistakes happen". True mistakes do happen. But when they do, a person should take responsibility and apologize. She did not do this. Nor did the server. Lip service was paid to an apology. Frankly, an insincere apology is more offensive than none at all. I asked to be compensated in some way for such poor service. When the final bill came the manager on duty had only knocked off $3.50 off an $80 bill. It was more of an insult to me than anything. While I am from out of town, the rest of our party were locals. They will be telling their friends of this horrendous evening of service and customer service. The food was excellent. We all enjoyed our entrées and the portions were huge. However, the poor service and the negative attitude that went with it ruined our evening. We likely would have liked to continue drinking (and spending money). But we had to struggle so much to just get what we paid for and pay appropriately, we were not able enjoy ourselves fully.

This is in my home town, so I go here every so often. I go for mostly for the beer, not the food, though there is nothing wrong with it. More on that later. They have Wi-Fi so I could be writing this in person, but instead am home working from my notes from a trip there a couple nights ago. It was a Thursday night and it was packed. All tables were full, people were waiting, the bar was jammed, and people were even standing around drinking. That is probably the major problem with the place. The building is historic, and actually very nice, but just a little crowded. They cram the tables together, cases of overs and unders (seconds) are stacked in the middle of the floor and along the wall, and there just is not much room to move around. However the dark wood panels, high ceilings, and stuff on the walls make for a funky atmosphere. There are two large televisions usually showing sports. The food is overall better than average with the usual pub foods of burgers and sandwiches, fries, chips, salads, soups, and pasta. Also a great beef stew, which is my personal favorite. But it is the beer you come here for. They have twelve handles, good bar service, and seven of the handles pour all their mainline brews. The very best of these are among the top rated craftbrews in the world (8 Ball Stout, and Indica IPA), and some others like Great White, Downtown Brown, Alleycat Amber, Wheat and Pale Ale are highly rated and major award winners. There is something for every taste, and not a bad brew in the lot. They also have seasonals available (Octoberfest and Winterbraun were there this time) and a couple of fruit beers, with Raspberry Brown their best. Finally the last two taps are Guinness (you can get a Black and Tan if you want), and their Imperial Stout (called Bourbon Stout). This last one is really expensive compared to the rest (about twice the price per ounce) but amazingly good if you like rich stouts. This would a great place for tourists, but as mentioned it is often crowded. And finally they have a beer sampler for those that want to try one of everything and might not have a second chance. All in all this is a great brewpub, with top of the line beers and decent food. Just another reason why I feel lucky to live up here in Eureka behind the Redwood Curtain. Lots of parking in back. --